Method and apparatus for sensing impact on vehicle based on acoustic sensor and acceleration sensor

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are a method and apparatus for sensing as impact on a vehicle based on an acoustic sensor and an acceleration sensor. The method of sensing an impact on a vehicle may include obtaining information related to an impact sound generated in the vehicle of a user and around the vehicle of the user through an acoustic sensor, obtaining information related to an impact applied to the vehicle of the user through an impact detection sensor, and determining an impact sound directly generated in the vehicle of the user based on the information related to the impact sound and the information related to the impact.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of Korean Patent ApplicationNo. 10-2016-0127097 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office onSep. 30, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field

The following description relates to a technology for sensing an impactgenerated in the vehicle of a user and, more particularly, to a methodand apparatus for sensing a minor impact generated in the vehicle of auser, such as door ding or a scratch.

2. Description of the Related Art

The spread of vehicles has been commercialized to the point of sayingthe present day to be a one-household one-vehicle era. It is obligatoryto build a parking lot when a building is constructed due to an increaseof vehicle. As described above, although a parking lot is obligatorilybuilt, parking lots are far from enough compared to the number ofvehicles. For this reason, vehicles are frequently parked in spacesother than parking lots, for example, roads in the surroundings of abuilding, alleys and the front of a shopping district area.

If a vehicle is parked in a designated outdoor parking space (e.g., aresidential parking permit parking space) or an illegal parking spaceother than an underground parking space, a slight scratch or door-dingis frequently generated due to another vehicle (e.g., a motorcycle or avehicle) that passes by around the vehicle, in particular, a motorcyclefor delivery, the delivery basket of a motorcycle for delivery, abicycle or a scooter.

Furthermore, although a vehicle is parked in a designated parking space(e.g., the space in which a parking stall line is indicated) of anunderground parking space, a minor impact, such as door ding that a doorof the vehicle of a user is indented in a process of opening or shuttingthe doors of vehicles parked on both sides of the parked vehicle of theuser, is generated.

However, an existing image capturing device for a vehicle senses animpact generated in a vehicle using an acceleration sensor and recordsthe sensed impact. In this case, however, a strong impact of specificsensitivity or more may be sensed, but it is difficult to sense aslightly generated impact, such as door ding or a scratch.

Furthermore, the acceleration sensor itself generates noise. It isdifficult to distinguish between a sensed value and noise from theacceleration sensor and to determine whether a minor impact is generatedin the vehicle of a user because the noise value and the sensing valueof the minor impact, such as door ding or a scratch, are almost similar.

As described above, the existing image capturing device for a vehiclesenses only impact greater than the noise of the acceleration sensorwith low sensitivity. If the sensing sensitivity is lowered, it isdifficult to sense a minor impact, such as door ding or a scratch havinga size similar to noise. If the sensing sensitivity is raised, it isdifficult to distinguish between noise and a minor impact.

Accordingly, there is a need for a technology for sensing a minorimpact, such as door ding or a scratch generated in a vehicle. KoreanPatent Application Publication No. 10-2010-0056264 discloses a methodand apparatus, which sense impact generated outside a vehicle, checkwhether impact generation data is additionally generated within aspecific time, consider that a chain-reaction collision or a collisionwas generated and provide the impact history of a vehicle that generatesimpact generation history data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatusfor sensing an impact on a vehicle, which sense a minor impact, such asdoor ding or a scratch generated in a parked vehicle using an acousticsensor and an acceleration sensor at the same time, and record or storeimages of the outside and surroundings of a vehicle captured during aspecific time from the time when an impact was sensed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method andapparatus for sensing an impact on a vehicle, which distinguish betweena minor impact generated in a parked vehicle, noise itself from anacceleration sensor, and a sound generated in a facility around avehicle or another vehicle using an acoustic sensor and an accelerationsensor at the same time.

A method of sensing an impact on a vehicle may include the steps ofobtaining information related to an impact sound generated in thevehicle of a user and around the vehicle of the user through an acousticsensor, obtaining information related to an impact applied to thevehicle of the user through an impact detection sensor, and determiningan impact sound directly generated in the vehicle of the user based onthe information related to the impact sound and the information relatedto the impact.

In accordance with one aspect, the step of determining the impact sounddirectly generated in the vehicle of the user may include determiningpeak values belonging to peak values included in the information relatedto the impact sound and corresponding to an area overlapped with peakvalues included in the information related to the impact based on a timeaxis to be information corresponding to the impact sound directlygenerated in the vehicle of the user.

In accordance with another aspect, the peak values included in theinformation related to the impact may be indicative of sensing values ofimpact reference sensitivity or more which have been predefined assensing values corresponding to noise generated by the impact detectionsensor.

In accordance with vet another aspect, the step of determining theimpact sound directly generated in the vehicle of the user may includethe steps of determining an area overlapped with peak values whichbelong to peak values included in the information related to the impactand which are included in the information related to the impact soundbased on a time axis, and determining peak values belonging to the peakvalues included in the information related to the impact andcorresponding to remaining areas other than the overlapped area to beself-noise generated in the impact detection sensor.

In accordance with further yet another aspect, the step of determiningthe impact sound directly generated in the vehicle of the user mayinclude determining peak values, which belong to peak values belongingto the peak values included in the information related to the impact andcorresponding to the overlapped area or peak values included in theinformation related to the impact and which do not include theself-noise, to be information corresponding to the impact sound directlygenerated in the vehicle of the user.

In accordance with further yet another aspect, the method may furtherinclude the steps of photographing the vehicle of the user andsurroundings of the vehicle and recording an image belonging to capturedimages and captured for a specific time prior to a predefined referencetime based on a point of time corresponding to the determined impactsound on a memory of an image capturing device when the impact sounddirectly generated in the vehicle of the user is determined.

In accordance with further yet another aspect, the step of recording theimage captured for the specific time on the memory of the imagecapturing device may include the steps of compressing the image capturedfor the specific time, recording the compressed image on the memory ofthe image capturing device, and recording the compressed image on atleast one of a storage device connected to a network and a userterminal.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a method of sensing an impacton a vehicle may include the steps of obtaining information related toan impact sound generated in the vehicle of a user and around thevehicle of the user through an acoustic sensor, obtaining informationrelated to an impact applied to the vehicle of the user through animpact detection sensor, classifying the information related to theimpact into a first impact applied to the vehicle of the user and asecond impact applied to the vehicle of the user, determining an impactsound generated due to the second impact applied to the vehicle of theuser based on the information related to the impact sound andinformation which belongs to the information related to the impact andwhich corresponds to the second impact, and recording an image capturedin relation to the impact sound generated due to the second impactapplied to the vehicle of the user.

In accordance with one aspect, the first impact may indicate a strongimpact belonging to sensing values included in the information relatedto the impact and corresponding to sensing values of a predefined firstreference value or more. The second impact may indicate a minor impactcorresponding to a predefined second reference value or more withrespect to sensing values belonging to the sensing values included inthe information related to the impact and not including the sensingvalues of the first reference value or more.

In accordance with further yet another aspect, the step of determiningthe impact sound generated due to the second impact applied to thevehicle of the user may include determining sensing values belonging tosensing values included in the information corresponding to the secondimpact and corresponding to an area overlapped with peak values includedin the information related to the impact sound based on a time axis tobe sensing values related to the impact sound generated due to thesecond impact.

In accordance with further yet another aspect, the step of determiningthe impact sound generated due to the second impact applied to thevehicle of the user may include determining sensing values belonging tothe sensing values included in the information corresponding to thesecond impact and corresponding to remaining areas other than theoverlapped area to be self-noise generated in the impact detectionsensor.

In an embodiment, of the present invention, an apparatus for sensing animpact on a vehicle may include an acoustic sensor configured to sensean impact sound generated in the vehicle of a user and around thevehicle of the user and to generate information related to the sensedimpact sound, an impact detection sensor configured to sense an impactapplied to the vehicle of the user and to generate information relatedto the sensed impact, and a determination unit configured to determinean impact sound directly generated in the vehicle of the user based onthe information related to the impact sound and the information relatedto the impact.

In accordance with one aspect, the determination unit may determine peakvalues belonging to peak values included in the information related tothe impact sound and corresponding to an area overlapped with peakvalues included in the information related to the impact based on a timeaxis to be information corresponding to the impact sound directlygenerated in the vehicle of the user.

In accordance with further yet another aspect, the peak values includedin the information related to the impact may be indicative of sensingvalues of impact reference sensitivity or more which have beenpredefined as sensing values corresponding to noise generated by theimpact detection sensor.

In accordance with further yet another aspect, the determination unitmay determine an area overlapped with peak values which belong to peakvalues included in the information related to the impact and which areincluded in the information related to the impact sound based on a timeaxis, and may determine peak values belonging to the peak valuesincluded in the information related to the impact and corresponding toremaining areas other than the overlapped area to be self-noisegenerated in the impact detection sensor.

In accordance with further yet another aspect, the determination unitmay determine peak values, which belong to peak values belonging to thepeak values included in the information related to the impact andcorresponding to the overlapped area or peak values included in theinformation related to the impact and which do not include theself-noise, to be information corresponding to the impact sound directlygenerated in the vehicle of the user.

In accordance with further yet another aspect, the apparatus may furtherinclude a photographing unit configured to photograph the vehicle of theuser and surroundings of the vehicle, and an image processing unitconfigured to record an image belonging to captured images and capturedfor a specific time prior to a predefined reference time based on apoint of time corresponding to the determined impact sound on the memoryof an image capturing device when the impact sound directly generated inthe vehicle of the user is determined.

In an embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for sensing animpact on a vehicle may include an acoustic sensor configured to senseas impact sound generated in the vehicle of a user and around thevehicle of the user and to generate information related to the sensedimpact sound, an impact detection sensor configured to sense an impactapplied to the vehicle of the user and to generate information relatedto the sensed impact, a determination unit configured to classify theinformation related to the impact into a first impact applied to thevehicle of the user and a second impact applied to the vehicle of theuser and to determine an impact sound generated due to the second impactapplied to the vehicle of the user based on the information related tothe impact sound and information which belongs to the informationrelated to the impact and which corresponds to the second impact, and animage processing unit configured to record an image captured in relationto the impact sound generated due to the second impact applied to thevehicle of the user.

In accordance with one aspect, the first impact may indicate a strongimpact belonging to sensing values included in the information relatedto the impact and corresponding to sensing values of a predefined firstreference value or more. The second impact may indicate a minor impactcorresponding to a predefined second reference value or more withrespect to sensing values belonging to the sensing values included inthe information related to the impact and not including the sensingvalues of the first reference value or more.

In accordance with further yet another aspect, the determination unitmay determine sensing values belonging to sensing values included in theinformation corresponding to the second impact and corresponding to anarea overlapped with peak values included in the information related tothe impact sound based on a time axis to be sensing values related tothe impact sound generated due to the second impact.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle including an apparatus for sensingan impact on a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of theapparatus for sensing an impact on a vehicle in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of sensing an impact on avehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing information related to an impact sound andinformation related to an impact that are sensed by an acoustic sensorand an impact detection sensor in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of distinguishingbetween the self-noise of the impact detection sensor and a minor impactapplied to the vehicle of a user in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of recording or storingan image in relation to a minor impact generated in the vehicle of auser in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen of a user terminal on whichnotification providing notification of an impact generated in thevehicle of a user is display in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart provided in order to describe an operation ofdistinguishing between a strong impact applied to the vehicle and aminor impact applied to the vehicle using both the impact detectionsensor and the acoustic sensor in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a minor impact, such as doording or a scratch generated in a vehicle such as a car, van, deliverycar or truck, is sensed, and an image captured in relation to the minorimpact generated in the vehicle is recorded or stored. In particular,after a vehicle in which as image capturing device has been disposed isparked, a minor impact generated in the parked vehicle is sensed andrecorded using an impact detection sensor and an acoustic sensor at thesame time.

In the present embodiments, the impact detection sensor may include anacceleration sensor for sensing a great impact generated the outside ofa vehicle, such as a vehicle collision. The acoustic sensor may includea microphone (mic) for sensing and receiving sound (i.e., an audiosignal) generated in a vehicle and around the vehicle.

In the present embodiments, an apparatus for sensing an impact on avehicle is an electronic device disposed within the vehicle of a userand may be an image capturing device for a vehicle, for example. In thiscase, the image capturing device for a vehicle may include themicrophone (i.e., the microphone and the image capturing device or avehicle may be integrally fabricated), and the microphone may beimplemented to be mounted on a vehicle separately from the imagecapturing device. For example, if a wireless microphone is mounted onthe door handle, side mirror, etc. of a vehicle separately from an imagecapturing device within a vehicle, the image capturing device mayreceive information related to an impact sound sensed by the wirelessmicrophone from the wireless microphone and analyze the receivedinformation related to the impact sound.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle including an apparatus for sensingan impact on a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus for sensing an impact on a vehiclemay be disposed within a vehicle 100. For example, a photographing unitsuch as a camera for photographing the outside of the vehicle and thesurroundings of the vehicle, a determination unit for analyzing acaptured image, and memory for storing the captured image may bedisposed within the vehicle 100. For example, the apparatus for sensingan impact on a vehicle may be disposed in an area in the periphery of awindshield, a room mirror, etc. within the vehicle 100.

An impact detection sensor for sensing an impact of specific pressureapplied to the vehicle may be disposed at the outside of the vehicle 100and may be integrated with the apparatus for sensing an impact on avehicle and disposed within the vehicle 100.

For example, if the impact detection sensor (e.g., an accelerationsensor) is disposed within the vehicle in an integrated form, it maysense a dynamic force attributable to the shaking of the impactdetection sensor, such as an image capturing device disposed within thevehicle, as an impact is applied to the vehicle.

For another example, if the impact detection sensor is disposed at theoutside of the vehicle 100, a plurality of acceleration sensors 101,102, 103 and 104 may be disposed at the front and rear of the vehicle100 in order to sense an impact applied to the front part or rear partof the vehicle. In order to sense pressure applied to a door of thevehicle 100, such as door ding, a plurality of the acceleration sensorsmay be disposed in the driver's seat and passenger seat doors and backseat doors on both sides of the vehicle 100.

An acoustic sensor is disposed within the vehicle and may be implementedto be integrated with the apparatus for sensing an impact on thevehicle, that is, an image capturing device, and may be disposed at theoutside of the vehicle or in an area in the periphery of a door withinthe vehicle in order to sense a minor impact, such as door dinggenerated from a door of the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of theapparatus for sensing an impact on the vehicle in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a flowchartillustrating a method of sensing an impact on the vehicle in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the apparatus 200 for sensing an impact on avehicle may include an acoustic sensor 210, an impact detection sensor220, a determination unit 230, a photographing unit 240, an imageprocessing unit 250 and a storage unit 260. In this case, thedetermination unit 230 may include a sound signal processing unit 231and an acceleration signal processing unit 232. Furthermore, theapparatus for sensing an impact on the vehicle 100 may further include adisplay unit (not shown) for displaying a captured or recorded image byplaying back the image. The elements of the apparatus 200 for sensing animpact on a vehicle shown in FIG. 2, that is, the acoustic sensor 210,the impact detection sensor 220, the determination unit 230, thephotographing unit 240, the image processing unit 250 and the storageunit 260 may perform the steps 310 to 330 of a method of sensing animpact on the vehicle included in FIG. 3. In this case, the operationsof the photographing unit 240, the image processing unit 250 and thestorage unit 260 are described later with reference to FIG. 6.

At step 310, the acoustic sensor 210 may generate information related toan impact sound by sensing the impact sound generated in the vehicle 100of a user and around the vehicle 100. Accordingly, the sound signalprocessing unit 231 may obtain the information related to the impactsound from the acoustic sensor 210.

For example, after the vehicle 100 of a user is parked, a minor impact,such as door ding or a scratch, may be generated in the parked vehicle100 or a strong impact, such as a collision between the vehicle 100 ofthe user and another vehicle, may be generated. The acoustic sensor 210may sense a direct minor impact on the vehicle 100 of the user and animpact sound generated when a strong impact is applied to the vehicle.For example, the impact sound may be received through a microphone. Themicrophone may generate information related to the impact sound in ananalyzable form by digitizing the received impact sound.

In this case, the acoustic sensor 210 may also sense a sound in aconstruction site near the vehicle 100 or a sound generated in anothervehicle that passes by the parked vehicle 100 in addition to a directimpact on the vehicle 100 of the user. For example, the acoustic sensor210 may sense a sound generated when a door of another vehicle besidethe parked vehicle 100 is open or shut, a Klaxon sound and the voice ofpeople who talk around the vehicle 100 of the user.

At step 320, the impact detection sensor 220 may sense an impactgenerated as specific pressure is applied to the outside of the vehicle100 of the user and generate information related to the sensed impact.Accordingly, the acceleration signal processing unit 232 may obtain theinformation related to the impact from the impact detection sensor 220.

For example, the impact detection sensor 220, such as an accelerationsensor, may sense a dynamic force, such as an impact, vibration,acceleration and gravity acceleration applied to the vehicle 100 of theuser with specific pressure. For example, the impact detection sensor220 may sense an impact, such as door ding or a scratch applied to thevehicle 100 of the user with weak pressure, and an impact attributableto a collision with a shopping cart and may sense a collision againstanother vehicle which is applied with strong pressure.

At step 330, the determination unit 230 may determine an impact sounddirectly generated in the vehicle of the user using both the informationrelated to the impact sound, obtained by the acoustic sensor 210, andthe information related to the impact, obtained by the impact detectionsensor 220 at the same time. That is, the impact sound corresponding toa minor impact, such as door ding or a scratch actually generated in thevehicle of the user may be determined.

For example, the determination unit 230 may distinguish between a soundsignal generated by an object, such as a building, a person or anothervehicle located around the vehicle of a user, and an impact soundgenerated as an impact is directly applied to the vehicle of the userusing information related to an impact, which belongs to informationrelated to an impact sound sensed through microphone. Furthermore, thedetermination unit 230 may selectively recognize only the impact sound,generated in the vehicle of the user, in the information related to theimpact sound. A detailed operation of selectively recognizing only theimpact sound generated in the vehicle of the user is described laterwith reference to FIG. 4.

For another example, the determination unit 230 may distinguish betweena minor impact, such as door ding or a scratch directly applied to thevehicle of the user, and noise generated within the vehicle in thesensing process of the acceleration sensor using information related toan impact sound which belongs to information related to related to animpact sensed through the acceleration sensor. Furthermore, thedetermination unit 230 may recognize the minor impact directly generatedin the vehicle of the user by excluding the noise from the informationrelated to the impact. A detailed operation of determining the minorimpact generated in the vehicle of the user by distinguishing betweenthe information related to the impact and the noise is described laterwith reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing information related to an impact sound andinformation related to an impact that are sensed by an acoustic sensorand an impact detection sensor in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a graph 410 showing impact sound-related informationaccording to an impact sound sensed by the acoustic sensor 210 and agraph 420 showing impact-related information according to an impactsensed by the impact detection sensor 220 when a door ding impact isgenerated in a door of the vehicle of a user ten times for a specifictime.

Referring to FIG. 4, a traverse axis may denote time, and a longitudinalaxis may denote a sensing value obtained by digitizing an impact soundor an impact (i.e., a dynamic force applied to the vehicle). In FIG. 4,an operation of determining a minor impact applied to the vehicle basedon information related to an impact sound sensed by a microphone, thatis, the acoustic sensor, is described below.

From FIG. 4, it may be seen that sensing values included in the impactsound-related information include ten peak values 430. The peak values430 may indicate sensing values corresponding to a reference value ormore which has been defined in relation to an impact sound. Furthermore,the determination unit 230 may determine information corresponding to aminor impact sound directly generated in the vehicle of the user, whichbelongs to the impact sound-related information, using peak valuesincluded in the impact-related information with respect to the peakvalues 430 included in the impact sound-related information.

For example, the determination unit 230 may determine peak values,corresponding to an area that overlaps the peak values included in theimpact-related information based on the time axis, as informationcorresponding to an impact sound directly generated in the vehicle ofthe user with respect to the peak values 430 included in the impactsound-related information. Referring to FIG. 4, all the ten peak values430 may be determined to be information related to a minor impactgenerated in the vehicle of the user because they overlap the peakvalues included in the impact-related information. In this case, thepeak values included in the impact-related information may indicatesensing values of impact reference sensitivity or more (e.g.,corresponding to a second reference value of FIG. 8) predefined assensing values corresponding to noise generated by the impact detectionsensor 220. For example, the impact reference sensitivity may bepreviously defined as an average value of self-noise measured by theimpact detection sensor 220 for a predefined specific time. Thedetermination unit 230 may determine whether a minor impact has occurredin the vehicle using peak values that belong to the sensing valuesincluded in the impact-related information and that correspond to theimpact reference sensitivity or more, that is, the sensing value of theself-noise of the acceleration sensor and the peak values 430 includedin the impact sound-related information at the same time.

In this case, in order to determine whether a minor impact has occurredusing the impact sound-related information and the impact-relatedinformation at the same time, the acoustic sensor 210 and the impactdetection sensor 220 may perform time synchronization. Furthermore, thedetermination unit 230 may determine a point of time at which both theacoustic sensor 210 sensed the impact sound and the impact detectionsensor 220 sensed the impact as a point of time at which the minorimpact was generated in the vehicle of the user using the impactsound-related information and the impact-related information obtainedfrom the acoustic sensor 210 and the impact detection sensor 220 thathave been time-synchronized at the same time based on the time axis.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of distinguishingbetween the self-noise of the impact detection sensor and a minor impactapplied to the vehicle of a user in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

Steps 510 to 530 of FIG. 5 may be performed by the determination unit230 of FIG. 2. An operation or determining a minor impact applied to thevehicle based on information related to an impact sensed by theacceleration sensor, that is, the impact detection sensor, is describedbelow with reference to FIG. 5.

At step 510, the determination unit 230 may determine an area overlappedwith peak values that belong to peak values included in informationrelated to an impact and that are included in information related to animpact sound.

For example, referring to FIG. 4, the determination unit 230 maydetermine an area overlapping the ten peak values 430 that belong tofourteen peak values included in information related to an impact andthat are included in information related to an impact sound.

At step 520, the determination unit 230 may determine peak values 440,corresponding to the remaining area other than the determined overlappedarea in the information related to the impact, to be the self-noise ofthe impact detection sensor 220.

At step 530, the determination unit 230 may determine peak values thatbelong to the peak values (e.g., the fourteen peak values of FIG. 4)included in the information related to the impact and that correspond tothe overlapped area, that is, peak values overlapping the ten peakvalues 430 to be information indicative of a minor impact generated inthe vehicle of the user. Alternatively, the determination unit 230 maydetermine peak values that belong to the peak values (e.g., the fourteenpeak values of FIG. 4) included in the information related to the impactand that do not include the peak values 440 corresponding to noise asinformation indicative of a minor impact.

At step 510, the determination unit 230 may determine an area notoverlapped with peak values that belong to peak values included ininformation related to an impact and that are included in informationrelated to an impact sound. For example, referring to FIG. 4, thedetermination unit 230 may determine an area not overlapping the tenpeak values 430 that belong to the fourteen peak values included in theinformation related to the impact and that are included in theinformation related to the impact sound. Furthermore, the determinationunit 230 may determine the four peak values 440 corresponding to thenon-overlapped area to be noise. When the noise is determined asdescribed above, the determination unit 230 may determine peak valuescorresponding to a minor impact, such as door ding or a scratch directlyapplied to the vehicle of the user, by excluding the noise from theinformation related to the impact, and may determine a point of time atwhich the determined peak values was generated to be a point of time atwhich the minor impact was generated.

Accordingly, the determination unit 230 may provide the image processingunit 250 with time point information indicative of the point of time atwhich the minor impact was generated in the vehicle of the user. Theimage processing unit 250 may record or store an image, captured inrelation to the minor impact generated in the vehicle of the user basedon the time point information, in the storage unit 260. That is, animage captured in relation to the minor impact applied to the vehicle ofthe user may be recorded on the memory (e.g., an SD memory card or amicro memory card) of the image capturing device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of recording or storingan image in relation to a minor impact generated in the vehicle of auser in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Steps 610 to 630 of FIG. 6 may be performed by the photographing unit240, the image processing unit 250 and the storage unit 260 of FIG. 2.

At step 610, the photographing unit 240 may photograph the outside ofthe vehicle and the surroundings of the vehicle.

For example, the photographing unit 240 may photograph the vehicle of auser that is being driven, the outside of the parked vehicle of a user,and the surroundings of the vehicle. For example, the photographing unit240 includes a camera and may photograph an object (e.g., anothervehicle or a person) that approaches the vehicle of the user, othervehicles around the vehicle of the user, and facilities (e.g.,buildings, streetlamps or trees) around the vehicle of the user throughthe camera disposed within the vehicle. Furthermore, the photographingunit 240 may transfer the captured images to the image processing unit250.

At step 620, the image processing unit 250 may compress an image thatbelongs to the captured images and that is related to a minor impactgenerated in the vehicle of the user based on time point informationprovided by the determination unit 230. In this case, the imageprocessing unit 250 may compress the captured image and impactsound-related information received from the acoustic sensor 210together. That is, audio and an image may be synchronized and compressedtogether.

For example, as in the acoustic sensor 210 and the impact detectionsensor 220, time synchronization may be set in the photographing unit230. Accordingly, the image processing unit 250 may compress images thatbelong to the images captured by the photographing unit 230 and thatcorrespond to the time point information. In this case, the imageprocessing unit 250 may compress images for a specific time, which havebeen captured prior to predefined reference time based on a point oftime at which a minor impact was generated. For example, when a minorimpact was generated at 8 a.m., the image processing unit 250 maycompress images captured for five minutes from 7:59, that is, slightlyprior to 8 a.m. when the impact was generated, to 8:04.

In addition, the image processing unit 250 may compress all of capturedimages depending on setting. For example, if a user has performedsetting so that all of images captured by the photographing unit 230 arerecorded, the image processing unit 250 may compress all of capturedimages for each predefined time unit. Furthermore, if setting has beenperformed so that all of images are recorded only in a parking mode, theimage processing unit 250 does not compress an image captured whiledriving and may compress only an image captured while the vehicle isparked. Furthermore, if setting has been performed so that an image isrecorded only when an impact was generated in the vehicle, the imageprocessing unit 250 may compress only images that belong to imagescaptured while the vehicle is driving and while the vehicle is parkedand that are related to points of time at which a strong impact (e.g., avehicle collision) and a minor impact (e.g., door ding or a scratch) aregenerated.

In this case, the image processing unit 250 may differently apply animage compression ratio depending on setting. For example, if a user hasperformed setting so that all of images captured by the photographingunit 230 are recorded, the image processing unit 250 may compress imagescaptured in relation to a point of time at which an impact including astrong impact and minor impact is generated at a compression ratio lowerthan that of images captured if an impact is not generated. That is, inorder to provide an image of high picture quality when a vehiclecollision or accident is generated, an image captured in relation to apoint of time at which an impact is generated may be compressed at apredefined low compression ratio, and an image at normal times while animpact is not generated may be compressed at a high compression ratio inorder to store many images although picture quality is low.

For example, according to an embodiment of the present invention, theimage processing unit 250 may apply a different compression ratio bycontrolling resolution, frame rate, quantization parameter (QP), groupof pictures (GOP), etc. of a captured image.

Furthermore, if setting has been performed so that an image is recordedonly when an impact is generated in the vehicle, the image processingunit 250 may compress an image related to a point of time at which astrong impact (e.g., a vehicle collision) is generated at a compressionratio lower than that of an image related to a minor impact so that theimage related to the point of time at which the strong impact isgenerated is provided with high picture quality, and may compress imagesrelated to a point of time at which a minor impact (e.g., door ding or ascratch) is generated at a compression ratio higher than that of animage related to a strong impact. The image processing unit 250 maycompress images related to both a strong impact and a minor impact at apredefined high compression ratio or low compression ratio depending onsetting.

Furthermore, the image processing unit 250 of the apparatus 200 forsensing an impact on a vehicle may divide and store a storage regionlogically or physically depending on the degree of an impact applied tothe vehicle. For example, the image processing unit 250 may store imagedata related to a point of time at which a strong impact (e.g., avehicle collision) is generated and image data related to a minor impactin different folders.

In another embodiment, if the storage unit 260 is configured to includean internal storage medium, such as a hard disk or flash memory, and adetachable storage medium attachable to or detachable from the apparatus200 for sensing an impact on a vehicle, such as an SD card, a micro SDcard or USB memory, the image processing unit 250 may store image datarelated to a point of time at which a strong impact (e.g., a vehiclecollision) is generated and image data related to a minor impact indifferent storage media. For example, the image data related to thepoint of time at which the strong impact (e.g., a vehicle collision) isgenerated may be stored in the internal storage medium, and the imagedata related to the minor impact may be stored in the detachable storagemedium.

At step 630, the image processing unit 250 may record or store thecompressed image in the storage unit 260. For example, the imageprocessing unit 250 may record or store images, compressed in relationto a minor impact generated in the vehicle of the user, in the memorycard of the image capturing device.

In this case, if the memory space is insufficient, previously storeddata may be sequentially deleted in order of earlier time and newlycompressed data may be stored. If an image (i.e., a recorded image)stored in relation to an impact, that is, a strong impact or a minorimpact generated in relation to the vehicle of a user, is deleted, adifficult situation may occur. For example, although a long time haselapsed after an image was stored in the memory, if the correspondingimage is an important image related to a minor impact applied to thevehicle of a user or an accident, it needs to continue to be stored.Accordingly, the apparatus 200 for sensing an impact on a vehicle mayprovide a compressed image to a storage device connected to a previouslyregistered network or a user terminal (e.g., smartphone or tablet PC)owned by a user. The apparatus 200 for sensing an impact on a vehiclemay include a wireless communication module (not shown), such as Wi-Fior Bluetooth, or a wired communication module using the RS-232 or USBcommunication method in order to provide the compressed image to thestorage device connected to the network or the user terminal. In thiscase, the storage device connected to the network may include variousmedia, such as Cloud, a server provided by an Internet portal servicecompany such as GOOGLE, DAUM or NAVER with which the e-mail account ofthe user has been registered, a web hard, or network attached storage(NAS), which are connected to a network and are capable of storing userdata. Accordingly, the apparatus 200 for sensing an impact on a vehiclemay transmit a compressed image to the storage device connected to thenetwork through the wireless communication module or wired communicationmodule (not shown).

For example, the apparatus 200 for sensing an impact on a vehicle mayback up an image, compressed in relation to an impact generated in thevehicle, in the storage device connected to a network previouslyregistered by a user when or after the image capturing device isinstalled while operating in conjunction with a web server (e.g., DAUM,NAVER, GOOGLE or YAHOO).

For another example, the apparatus 200 for sensing an impact on avehicle may provide a user terminal with notification providingnotification that an impact was generated in the vehicle, whileoperating in conjunction with the server of a communication company towhich the user terminal belongs. An operation of providing the userterminal with an image compressed in relation to an impact is describedbelow with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen of a user terminal on whichnotification providing notification of an impact generated in thevehicle of a user is display in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

When a minor impact or strong impact is generated in the vehicle of auser, an image captured in relation to the impact may be compressed andstored in the storage unit 260, that is, the memory of the imagecapturing device. Furthermore, the apparatus 200 for sensing an impacton a vehicle may transmit notification or a text message, providingnotification that the impact was generated, to the user terminal 700while operating in conjunction with the server of a communicationservice company to which the user terminal 700 belongs in order toprovide the compressed image to the user terminal 700. Accordingly,notification 720 may be displayed on the screen 710 of the user terminal700.

In this case, when display information 710 indicative of “Yes” isselected, the compressed image may be downloaded onto the user terminal700 and stored therein. Although an image compressed in relation to aminor impact or strong impact on the vehicle is not downloaded, a usercan directly move to the place where his or her vehicle has been parkedand check whether abnormality has occurred in the vehicle because thenotification is provided.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart provided in order to describe an operation ofdistinguishing between a strong impact applied to the vehicle and aminor impact applied to the vehicle using both the impact detectionsensor and the acoustic sensor in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

Steps 810 to 850 of FIG. 8 may be performed by the elements of theapparatus 200 for sensing an impact on a vehicle in FIG. 2, that is, theacoustic sensor 210, the impact detection sensor 220, the determinationunit 230, the photographing unit 240, the image processing unit 250 andthe storage unit 260.

At step 810, when the acoustic sensor 210 senses an impact soundgenerated at the outside of the vehicle of user and around the vehicleand generates information related to the sensed impact sound, thedetermination unit 230 may obtain the information related to the impactsound from the acoustic sensor 210.

At step 820, when the impact detection sensor 220 senses an impactapplied to the vehicle of the user and generates information related tothe sensed impact, the determination unit 230 may obtain the informationrelated to the impact from the impact detection sensor 220.

For example, the impact detection sensor 220 may sense a collisionbetween the vehicle of a user and another vehicle, a strong impactapplied to the vehicle of a user due to a post in a parking lot, atelephone pole, a clothes collection box or discarded furniture whilethe vehicle is parked, door ding or a scratch applied when a door of avehicle next to the parked vehicle of a user is open, or a minor impactapplied to the vehicle of a user due to an object (e.g., another vehicleor a bicycle) that passes by the vehicle of a user.

At step 830, the determination unit 230 may classify the informationrelated to the impact obtained from the impact detection sensor 220 intoa strong impact (i.e., first impact.) applied to the vehicle of the userand a minor impact (i.e., a second impact) applied to the vehicle of theuser using the information related to the impact sound which has beenobtained from the acoustic sensor 210.

For example, the determination unit 230 may determine sensing valuesthat belong to sensing values included in information related to animpact and that have a predefined first reference value or more. Thatis, the determination unit 230 may determine sensing values that belongto the sensing values included in the information related to the impactand that correspond to a strong impact. Furthermore, the determinationunit 230 may exclude the determined sensing values included in theinformation related to the impact and that have the predefined firstreference value or more, and may determine sensing values that belongsto the excluded sensing values and that have a predefined secondreference value or more. That is, the determination unit 230 maydetermine sensing values corresponding to a minor impact by excludingthe sensing values that belong to the sensing values included in theinformation related to the impact and that correspond to the strongimpact and determining the sensing values that belong to the excludedsensing values and that have the second reference value or more.

In this case, the first reference value is a value predefined to sense astrong impact applied to the vehicle of a user, and the second referencevalue is a value predefined to sense a minor impact applied to thevehicle of a user. The first reference value may be previously definedto be greater than the second reference value. For example, the secondreference value may be previously defined as an average value of sensingvalues corresponding to noise measured for a specific time because aminor impact applied to the vehicle a user and noise generated in theacceleration sensor itself have almost the same sensing value (i.e.,size). Furthermore, the first reference value may be previously definedto be a value obtained by adding α (i.e., a predefined constant) to thesecond reference value so that the noise is fully removed.

At step 840, the determination unit 230 may determine an impact soundgenerated due to the minor impact applied to the vehicle of the userbased on the impact sound-related information obtained from the acousticsensor 210 the information corresponding to the minor impact (i.e., thesecond impact).

For example, referring to FIG. 4, the determination unit 230 maydetermine peak values that belong to the peak values 430 included in theinformation related to the impact sound and that correspond to an areaoverlapping with peak values included in information corresponding to aminor impact, to be peak values corresponding to the minor impactactually applied to the vehicle of the user. Furthermore, thedetermination unit 230 may determine the peak values 440 that belong tothe peak values included in the information corresponding to the minorimpact and that correspond to the remaining areas other than the areaoverlapped with the peak values 430 to be the self-noise of theacceleration sensor. When the noise is determined as described above,the determination unit 230 may determine the peak values correspondingto the minor impact actually applied to the vehicle of the user byexcluding the peak values corresponding to the noise from the peakvalues included in the information corresponding to the minor impact.

As described above, the determination unit 230 may determine an impactsound corresponding to a minor impact actually applied to the vehicle ofa user using information corresponding to the minor impact based oninformation related to the impact sound, and may determine the minorimpact actually applied to the vehicle of the user using the informationrelated to the impact sound based on the information corresponding tothe minor impact. Furthermore, the determination unit 230 may determinepoint of time at which the determined impact sound or minor impact wasgenerated (i.e., a point of time at which a peak value corresponding tothe determined impact sound is sensed or a point of time at which a peakvalue corresponding to the minor impact is sensed) to be a point of timeat which the minor impact actually applied to the vehicle of the userwas generated. Furthermore, the determination unit 230 may transfer timepoint information indicative of the determined point of time to theimage processing unit 250.

In addition, the determination unit 230 may extract informationcorresponding to a strong impact from information included in theinformation related to the impact. Furthermore, the determination unit230 may transfer time point information indicative of a point of time atwhich the information corresponding to the strong impact (e.g., peakvalues) was generated to the image processing unit 250.

At step 850, the image processing unit 250 may record or store an image,captured in relation to the point of time at which the minor impact orthe impact sound corresponding to the minor impact was actuallygenerated in the vehicle of the user based on the time pointinformation, in the storage unit 260.

For example, the image processing unit 250 may compress an imagecaptured for a specific time prior to the point of time at which theminor impact was generated in the vehicle of the user and informationrelated to an impact sound that corresponds to the specific time andthat has been received from the acoustic sensor 210 (i.e., an audiosignal from a point of time prior to the point of time at which theminor impact was generated to a point of time posterior to the point oftime at which the minor impact was generated in relation to the minorimpact) at a specific compression ratio. Furthermore, the imageprocessing unit 250 may record or store the compressed image in thestorage unit 260.

In this case, when time point information corresponding to a strongimpact is received, the image processing unit 250 may compress an imagecaptured for a specific time before a point of time at which the strongimpact was generated in the vehicle of the user and information relatedto an impact sound that corresponds to the specific time and that hasbeen received from the acoustic sensor 210 (i.e., an audio signal from apoint of time prior to the point of time at which the strong impact wasgenerated to a point of time posterior to the point of time at which thestrong impact was generated in relation to the strong impact) at aspecific compression ratio based on the time point information. In thiscase, the compression ratio of an image related to the strong impact andthe compression ratio of an image related to the minor impact may be thesame or different. For example, if the compression ratios are different,in order to provide the image related to the strong impact of highpicture quality compared to the image related to the minor impact, acompression ratio lower than that of the image related to the minorimpact may be used in the image related to the strong impact. In thiscase, an operation of compressing the image and recording or storing thecompressed image has been described above with reference to FIG. 6, anda redundant description thereof is omitted.

The apparatus described above may be implemented in the form of acombination of hardware components, software components, and/or hardwarecomponents and software components. For example, the apparatus andcomponents described in the embodiments may be implemented using one ormore general-purpose computers or special-purpose computers, forexample, a processor, a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), adigital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable array(FPA), a programmable logic unit (PLU), a microprocessor or any otherdevice capable of executing or responding to an instruction. Aprocessing device may perform an operating system (OS) and one or moresoftware applications executed on the OS. Furthermore, the processingdevice may access, store, manipulate, process and generate data inresponse to the execution of software. For convenience of understanding,one processing device has been illustrated as being used, but a personhaving ordinary skill in the art may be aware that the processing devicemay include a plurality of processing elements and/or a plurality oftypes of processing elements. For example, the processing device mayinclude a plurality of processors or a single processor and a singlecontroller. Furthermore, other processing configuration, such as aparallel processor, is also possible.

Software may be distributed to computer systems connected over a networkand may be stored or executed in a distributed manner. Software and datamay be stored in one or more computer-readable recording media.

The method according to the embodiment may be implemented in the form ofa program instruction executable by various computer means and stored ina computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recordingmedium may include a program instruction, a data file, and a datastructure solely or in combination. The program instruction recorded onthe recording medium may have been specially designed and configured forthe embodiment or may be known to those skilled in computer software.The computer-readable recording medium includes a hardware devicespecially configured to store and execute the program instruction, forexample, magnetic media such as a hard disk, a floppy disk, and amagnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROM or a DVD, magneto-opticalmedia such as a floptical disk, ROM, RAM, or flash memory. Examples ofthe program instruction may include both machine-language code, such ascode written by a compiler, and high-level language code executable by acomputer using an interpreter.

A minor impact, such as door ding or a scratch generated in a parkedvehicle, the self-noise of the acceleration sensor, and a soundgenerated due to a facility around a vehicle or another vehicle can bedistinguished using the acoustic sensor and the acceleration sensor atthe same time.

Furthermore, captured images of the outside of the vehicle and thesurroundings of the vehicle for a specific time before and after a pointof time at which a determined minor impact is generated in a vehicle canbe recorded or stored in the memory of the image capturing device of thevehicle.

Furthermore, an image related to a minor impact generated in a vehiclecan be provided to a previously registered web server or user terminal,such as a smartphone carried by a user. Notification providingnotification that an impact was generated in the vehicle of a user canbe provided to a user terminal.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with thelimited embodiments and the drawings, the present invention is notlimited to the embodiments. A person having ordinary skill in the art towhich the present invention pertains can substitute, modify, and changethe present invention without departing from the technological spirit ofthe present invention from the description.

Accordingly, the range of right of the present invention should not belimited to the aforementioned embodiments, but should be defined by theclaims and equivalent thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of sensing an impact on a vehicle,comprising steps of: obtaining information related to an impact soundgenerated in a vehicle of a user and around the vehicle of the userthrough an acoustic sensor; obtaining information related to an impactapplied to the vehicle of the user through an impact detection sensor;and determining an impact sound directly generated in the vehicle of theuser based on the information related to the impact sound and theinformation related to the impact.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thestep of determining the impact sound directly generated in the vehicleof the user comprises determining peak values belonging to peak valuesincluded in the information related to the impact sound andcorresponding to an area overlapped with peak values included in theinformation related to the impact based on a time axis to be informationcorresponding to the impact sound directly generated in the vehicle ofthe user.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the peak values included inthe information related to the impact are indicative of sensing valuesof impact reference sensitivity more which have been predefined assensing values corresponding to noise generated by the impact detectionsensor.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining theimpact sound directly generated in the vehicle of the user comprisessteps of: determining an area overlapped with peak values which belongto peak values included in the information related to the impact andwhich are included in the information related to the impact sound basedon a time axis; and determining peak values belonging to the peak valuesincluded in the information related to the impact and corresponding toremaining areas other than the overlapped area to be self-noisegenerated in the impact detection sensor.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the step of determining the impact sound directly generated inthe vehicle of the user comprises determining peak values, which belongto peak values belonging to the peak values included in the informationrelated to the impact and corresponding to the overlapped area or peakvalues included in the information related to the impact and which donot include the self-noise, to be information corresponding to theimpact sound directly generated in the vehicle of the user.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising steps of: photographing thevehicle of the user and surroundings of the vehicle; and recording animage belonging to captured images and captured for a specific timeprior to a predefined reference time based on a point of timecorresponding to the determined impact sound on a memory of an imagecapturing device when the impact sound directly generated in the vehicleof the user is determined.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step ofrecording the image captured for the specific time on the memory of theimage capturing device comprises steps of: compressing the imagecaptured for the specific time; recording the compressed image on thememory of the image capturing device; and recording the compressed imageon at least one of a storage device connected to a network and a userterminal.
 8. A method of sensing an impact on a vehicle, comprisingsteps of: obtaining information related to an impact sound generated ina vehicle of a user and around the vehicle of the user through anacoustic sensor; obtaining information related to an impact applied tothe vehicle of the user through an impact detection sensor; classifyingthe information related to the impact into a first impact applied to thevehicle of the user and a second impact applied to the vehicle of theuser; determining an impact sound generated due to the second impactapplied to the vehicle of the user based on the information related tothe impact sound and information which belongs to the informationrelated to the impact and which corresponds to the second impact; andrecording an image captured in relation to the impact sound generateddue to the second impact applied to the vehicle of the user.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein: the first impact indicates a strong impactbelonging to sensing values included in the information related to theimpact and corresponding to sensing values of a predefined firstreference value or more, and the second impact indicates a minor impactcorresponding to a predefined second reference value or more withrespect to sensing values belonging to the sensing values included inthe information related to the impact and not including the sensingvalues of the first reference value or more.
 10. The method of claim 8,wherein the step of determining the impact sound generated due to thesecond impact applied to the vehicle of the user comprises determiningsensing values belonging to sensing values included in the informationcorresponding to the second impact and corresponding to an areaoverlapped with peak values included in the information related to theimpact sound based on a time axis to be sensing values related to theimpact sound generated due to the second impact.
 11. The method of claim10, wherein the step of determining the impact sound generated due tothe second impact applied to the vehicle of the user comprisesdetermining sensing values belonging to the sensing values included inthe information corresponding to the second impact and corresponding toremaining areas other than the overlapped area to be self-noisegenerated in the impact detection sensor.
 12. An apparatus for sensingan impact on a vehicle, comprising: an acoustic sensor configured tosense an impact sound generated in a vehicle of a user and around thevehicle of the user and to generate information related to the sensedimpact sound; an impact detection sensor configured to sense an impactapplied to the vehicle of the user and to generate information relatedto the sensed impact; and a determination unit configured to determinean impact sound directly generated in the vehicle of the user based onthe information related to the impact sound and the information relatedto the impact.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the determinationunit determines peak values belonging to peak values included in theinformation related to the impact sound and corresponding to an areaoverlapped with peak values included in the information related to theimpact based on a time axis to be information corresponding to theimpact sound directly generated in the vehicle of the user.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the peak values included in theinformation related to the impact are indicative of sensing values ofimpact reference sensitivity or more which have been predefined assensing values corresponding to noise generated by the impact detectionsensor.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the determination unitdetermines an area overlapped with peak values which belong to peakvalues included in the information related to the impact and which areincluded in the information related to the impact sound based on a timeaxis, and determines peak values belonging to the peak values includedis the information related to the impact and corresponding to remainingareas other than the overlapped area to be self-noise generated in theimpact detection sensor.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein thedetermination unit determines peak values, which belong to peak valuesbelonging to the peak values included in the information related to theimpact and corresponding to the overlapped area or peak values includedin the information related to the impact and which do not include theself-noise, to be information corresponding to the impact sound directlygenerated is the vehicle of the user.
 17. The apparatus of claim 12,further comprising: a photographing unit configured to photograph thevehicle of the user and surroundings of the vehicle; and an imageprocessing unit configured to record an image belonging to capturedimages and captured for a specific time prior to a predefined referencetime based on a point of time corresponding to the determined impactsound on a memory of an image capturing device when the impact sounddirectly generated in the vehicle of the user is determined.
 18. Anapparatus for sensing an impact on a vehicle, comprising: an acousticsensor configured to sense an impact sound generated in a vehicle of auser and around the vehicle of the user and to generate informationrelated to the sensed impact sound; an impact detection sensorconfigured to sense an impact applied to the vehicle of the user and togenerate information related to the sensed impact; a determination unitconfigured to classify the information related to the impact into afirst impact applied to the vehicle of the user and a second impactapplied to the vehicle of the user and to determine an impact soundgenerated due to the second impact applied to the vehicle of the userbased on the information related to the impact sound and informationwhich belongs to the information related to the impact and whichcorresponds to the second impact; and an image processing unitconfigured to record an image captured in relation to the impact soundgenerated due to the second impact applied to the vehicle of the user.19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein: the first impact indicates astrong impact belonging to sensing values included in the informationrelated to the impact and corresponding to sensing values of apredefined first reference value or more, and the second impactindicates a minor impact corresponding to a predefined second referencevalue or more with respect to sensing values belonging to the sensingvalues included in the information related to the impact and notincluding the sensing values of the first reference value or more. 20.The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the determination unit determinessensing values belonging to sensing values included in the informationcorresponding to the second impact and corresponding to an areaoverlapped with peak values included in the information related to theimpact sound based on a time axis to be sensing values related to theimpact sound generated due to the second impact.